SINGAPORE: Indian life insurer PNB MetLife aims to embark on an IPO of US$150m-$300m later this year, according to people with knowledge of the plan. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Kotak are leads on the float.

Punjab National Bank owns 74 per cent of the life insurer, while MetLife International Holdings holds 26 per cent.

Earlier this year, the state-owned bank disclosed that companies owned by two jewellers had defrauded it of US$2bn using illegal guarantees issued by rogue staff at a Mumbai PNB branch over several years.

For the financial year to March 31 2017, PNB Metlife posted premium income of Rs32bn (US$489m), up from Rs28bn a year earlier. In 2016, another PNB subsidiary, PNB Housing Finance, raised Rs30bn through an IPO.

Shares of PNB Housing are up 0.2 per cent year to date, while those of PNB are down 45 per cent. Existing listed life insurers in India are ICICI Prudential, SBI Life Insurance and HDFC Life.